


Little Lemon Tree

by ShineBrightStarLight



Series: Keith and Matt's Domestic Life [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha Matt Holt, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Do you think I'll ever learn how to tag??, M/M, Married Matt Holt/Keith, Mentioned Keith's Father (Voltron), No I dont either, Omega Keith (Voltron), Plants, but mainly soft, oh!, this is just soft, with a teeny tiny bit of hurt? not quite angst but it's not really happy either
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-08 11:03:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20834408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShineBrightStarLight/pseuds/ShineBrightStarLight
Summary: Keith returned home from grocery shopping with a lemon tree. A whole lemon tree, although the poor thing looked a bit worse for wear. Matt had laughed and said that they only needed one lemon and Keith had blushed furiously. He spent the afternoon rearranging his plants until the lemon tree got the perfect spot right in front of their floor to ceiling glass window, where it would get the sun it needed. He had bought it a beautiful deep blue pot, so unlike the usual reds or neutral colours he went for. Matt was curious, but he let it be. Something about the plants was private, something that Keith wasn’t ready to share.Or, Keith has lots of plants, and Matt can't keep one alive. Set early in their marriage.





	Little Lemon Tree

**Author's Note:**

> Set earlier in Matt and Keith's relationship, before the other parts of this series.

One thing Matt loved about Keith was that Keith loved plants. Like a lot. Despite Matt’s Mom being a botanist, Matt couldn’t keep a plant alive, never mind healthy. 

Back when they started courting, Keith had gifted him a cactus that was native to where he grew up, a scarlet hedgehog cactus. Keith had been so shy and hesitant when he presented it, face flushed red and nervously biting his lips. There was no way Matt could reject it. He’d never be able to break Keith’s heart like that. Despite Matt's best efforts it started dying within a week. Matt eventually relinquished the caring of it to his mother. Now that he lives with Keith, Keith looks after it. Keith doesn’t know - and would never know - that Matt almost murdered one of his first courting gifts. 

When courting was done the more traditional, conservative way, the alpha was always the one to present gifts to the omega. But neither Matt nor Keith were interested in being traditional. So, they got each other gifts, and more personal ones too. Where most would give beautiful delicate jewellery made of silver or gold, they swapped dog tags. A cactus in the place of a rose. They ‘hunted’ for food together, settling at an Italian restaurant because it reminded Matt of his Grandma’s cooking, rather than catching and cooking an animal themselves (granted, nobody really did that last one, it was considered a bit archaic). Their courting was for them, and only for them.

Luckily for both, neither of their families pushed the matter, although Matt was sure Keith’s Dads had security trail them on a few of their dates. 

Keith had all of his plants labelled with their basic information, as though he didn’t have every detail memorised by now. Red stickers needed to be watered every 5 days, blue for every ten. Green for when they were dry. And, get this - this was Matt’s favourite part - he sang to them. 

Every evening he did his rounds, making sure that all their leaves were clean, that neither of the pets had accidentally damaged them. He would water the ones that needed it and sang the entire time. Usually it was something soft and old, not music Keith would usually listen to. 

Once, about three months into their marriage, Matt had asked Keith about it. Keith, who had been swaying to the beat of the music in his head immediately froze as though he forgot that Matt was there. He curled in on himself, the classic this-is-making-me-uncomfortable pose, so Matt had swiftly changed the subject. The tiny smile Matt got was forgiveness enough. 

A few days later, Keith returned home from grocery shopping with a lemon tree. A whole lemon tree, although the poor thing looked a bit worse for wear. Matt had laughed and said that they only needed one lemon and Keith had blushed furiously. He spent the afternoon rearranging his plants until the lemon tree got the perfect spot right in front of their floor to ceiling glass window, where it would get the sun it needed. He had bought it a beautiful deep blue pot, so unlike the usual reds or neutral colours he went for. Matt was curious, but he let it be. Something about the plants was private, something that Keith wasn’t ready to share. 

Matt’s easy acceptance and unquestioning support eventually paid off. They were curled up together in bed one-night, naked skin pressed flush when Keith’s raspy voice broke the silence. 

“It reminded me of my Dad,” he said, so quiet and hesitant, like he was afraid that that would offend Matt. Matt’s mind was elsewhere, and he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what Keith was talking about. 

“What reminds you of your Dad, baby? And which one?” 

Keith was silent for a few minutes. Matt was scared that he had crossed some sort of line. 

“The lemon tree, my… my real dad, my biological dad.” 

Matt hummed. Keith never really spoke of his birth father much. The man had died when Keith was eight, when their house burned down. Ryan was a firefighter, but there was little he could do by himself. He got Keith out alive but died of smoke inhalation a few days later. 

“He used to have a garden, or at least he tried to keep a garden. It was too hot and dry for most plants out there, but he had this one little lemon tree. He was determined to keep it alive. Said it reminded him of Mom. I was… fascinated. Dad never spoke about her; we didn’t even have any pictures. All I had of her was a knife, and suddenly this little lemon tree. The first year we had it, it grew two tiny, tiny lemons. Dad was so excited. He bragged about it at work and everything. When I asked him why, he said because it showed that all the love we put into the plant was doing some good. And we didn’t need more than two lemons, two was perfect for the two of us.” Keith paused, “Dad used to sing to it, said that plants like to have company. He sang lots of songs, but I only really remember one. It was the one he used to sing about Mom.” Matt pulled Keith impossibly closer. He knew how much talking about his Dad hurt, but he was so, so proud of him for sharing. 

Keith buried his face in the crook of Matt's neck. “The fire… it burned all of Dad's plants. Even if it didn’t, what could I have done? A little eight-year-old orphan lugging around twenty-odd plants? They wouldn’t have made it past the first home. I always felt so guilty about it, especially the lemon tree. I didn’t even know that I was singing until you pointed it out to me,” Keith chuckled weakly. “It was like all my memories of Dad came rushing back. Not that I had forgotten, but they were lying dormant until I was ready for them, I guess. Anyway, when I saw that lemon tree, it was like a sign from Dad himself. I could nearly hear him singing. So, I had to buy it. It’s all battered and bruised, but it just needs someone to love it.” 

Matt thanked him softly for sharing, and soon Keith’s breathing evened out. Matt didn’t fall asleep for another few hours, his mind buzzing with ideas. 

“Matthew Holt, what are you up to?” 

“Nothing, for once in my life, I swear I’m not trying to cause trouble!” 

“Why do you want to know about lemon tree care?” 

Matt paused, blushing furiously. “It’s for Keith,” he said softly.

“Are you sure you want to do this? What if you kill it like his courting gift?” 

“Yes, Mom I promise. If anything happens I have you on speed dial anyway. Please? This tree is really important to him, and I want it to grow as well as possible. And if we could get some lemons, you can have one, to sweeten the deal- or sour it, I guess. Doesn’t matter, I just really want this plant to do really well.”

His mom hummed, unconvinced. “How about this, you invite your dad and I over for dinner at your apartment- that we still haven’t seen since you redecorated by the way- and while we there I might just happen to notice what a nice plant it is? And if I happen to see anything wrong, I will let you know. Keith has a green thumb, kiddo, if anyone can get that plant to grow it’s him.” 

Matt sighed; Moms always somehow managed to get what they wanted. “Sure, that’s fine Mom, next week sometime? I just need to check in with Keith first.”

“Okay, see you then, love you.” 

“Love you too.”

“Need to check what with me?” 

Matt yelped and spun around. “Babe! Sweetheart! Light of my life! How... how long have you been there?” Matt wanted to smack himself. Not subtle at all. Keith just raised an eyebrow before smiling and shaking his head.

“I literally just got back; did you not hear me call out?”

“I’m going to have to put a collar with a bell on you, unless you want to be a widow aged twenty-two.” 

Keith smirked, “Kinky.” He moved closer to Matt, pressing himself to his front and stretched up to give him a kiss. “Seriously though, what do you need to check with me?”

“Mom’s bugging me about visiting the apartment, she wants to come over next week. I just wanted to make sure you were free. I know you’ve been super busy with work.” 

“It’s fine, I can do next Wednesday, if that suits you? I get off a bit earlier, so if you can handle dinner, I’ll make lemon drizzle cake for dessert.” 

Matt groaned, “God, why are you so perfect. I love you so much, baby.” 

Keith blushed furiously, ducking head so that Matt couldn’t see the tiny smile on his face. He could pretend to hate being complimented all he liked; Matt knew better. 

Colleen gave the plant an all clear, and also spent an hour complimenting Keith on his plant care. Matt was a tiny bit disappointed; he did want to do something for the plant, but ultimately, he was happy that Keith was taking such good care of it. 

A few months later, when Keith noticed two tiny lemon, they might have bragged about it for a few days, (and secretly shed some tears as well). Matt hoped it kept producing lemons, because then Keith could make more lemon drizzle cake (and, more importantly, to make Keith happy and his Dad proud).

**Author's Note:**

> The song Keith was humming is "I've been waiting for you." by ABBA. Yes, Ryan Kogane was ABBA trash, who isn't? (Really I'm projecting since my own dad loves ABBA probably more than he loves me at this stage! I always have their songs stuck in my head because of him, but I don't really mind!)
> 
> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Follow me on Twitter!  
[@starlightsight](https://twitter.com/starlightsight)


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